


Pieces of a Past

by anarchychaos



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, M/M, Pietro Maximoff Lives, Post CA:TWS, Sinister Six - Freeform, post AOU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-20
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:27:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4278528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anarchychaos/pseuds/anarchychaos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Bucky had been sharing The same floor of Avengers Tower for about six months. And it was driving Bucky crazy.  But when Bucky started researching his past, things got interesting</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There was this part of Bucky, slowly, painfully eating away at him. A part he had never been allowed to except in the 40’s, and he certainly wasn’t going to accept it now. He could change. He was most certainly NOT in love with Steve Rogers. Nope. Not in love with Captain perfect, not the all-American man, most certainly NOT with his best friend. Nope.

Bucky had first met Steve when they were 10 years old. Steve had fallen off of the monkey bars, and he couldn’t get up. Bucky, upon learning that Steve’s mother was at home sick, unable to get him, helped Steve home, and stayed at his house for dinner. They had been best friends ever since.

He was 15 when he first realized his feelings for Steve. Realized and immediately buried. And made sure his best friend would never know. Poor Steve, all small and sickly, and completely lonely. Except for with Bucky, of course. Bucky stayed by his side, arranging double dates, and watching out for the little punk. Every once in a while, Steve would actually go on the dates. And everytime he did something inside Bucky died. He could never find Steve the right girl. Nobody wanted him. Except Bucky. Bucky, who was forced to leave Steve for the war. It killed him to know he wouldn’t be able to watch out for Steve. Or anybody else. 

His parents had just adopted a child, a girl who was only 12, yet who he told everything. He had even told her about Steve late one night, when his parents had left the house for a weekend, and they were cooped up in his room, listening to the radio. She hated the war reports, so they jumped from station to station, listening to their favorite songs while they could. 

But she had listened, and told him to love who he wanted, and take care of Steve the best he could. So the next day, he took Steve out, with two girls to Stark’s expo, and found Steve trying to enroll to the army once again. He left him to it, never thinking he would ever make it. Bucky left to fight the next day. 

After he left, his mind was everywhere and nowhere at once. Until the bombs started falling, and men started dying all around him and oh my god he was going to die. OhmygodohmygodohmygodhewasgoingotdiewithoutSteve. Steve. That exact moment his mind clicked, and he surged forward, fighting, fighting for Steve, not relenting. He kept going until he got caught. By the Nazis. They had plans for him, he knew it. Testing, experimenting, until a new Steve came to get him. The same Steve, he told himself. Only he wasn’t. He had changed. He finally knew what praise felt like, and he had become more confident. More heroic, than ever. Sometimes Bucky would sit in his bunk and cry to himself silently at the thought of it. He knew he would have to talk to Becca as soon as he could. But he never did.

Falling off of that train was the most painful part of the war. Not dying. No. Just falling, seeing Steve’s face as he did so, his mind rushing with questions. Would Steve make it out ok? Would he remember him? When would his parents find out? Would Becca miss him? Would Steve ever know how he felt?

He had woken up what felt like moments later, in a Hydra facility, and the testing started all over again. They did have a plan, and it was painful. They had replaced his arm, lost in the fall, with some metal contraption, which rid him of pain, but made him feel inhuman. And as soon as he was taken into a room, exactly the same as the one Steve had found him in, barely conscious, he knew he was going to die. He already had military training, nothing else mattered. So when they wiped his memory, he had no idea what to do. There was some small part of his subconscious that knew there was something else, but he didn’t know what it was until he heard his name again. His name coming from Steve.

Then, memories started flowing back to him, until he was thrown into that damned machine, and his memory was erased. Again. But he fought it, somehow held onto that last memory, and when Steve was there again, he tried to remember, he tried so hard, but he just couldn’t. He didn’t know him enough to trust him, enough to refuse his leaders, even though he knew they were evil, they were all they knew. It was until he heard those barely spoken words that he knew how to get himself back. “The end of the line,” Steve whispered. And when he did, everything fell together. Yet, everything fell apart, too. He remembered everything to late to stop his actions, and soon him and Steve were falling out of the plane. 

He rescued Steve, and once he had seen him on the news, completely safe, he went to the museum, and learned more about himself. Thats when he had remembered Becca, and immediately freaked out. He had vague memories of another hitman, only she was female. And he had always reminded her of someone, and he had always gotten wiped after running into her. She had viewed him strangely, but said nothing. 

And then he was in a library, for the first time in years, trying to figure out how to work the technology. A young librarian had walked up to him, realizing his confusion. “Can I help you?”

And suddenly he was talking, talking in English saying words that sounded like home, and that made sense. “Yeah, hi, I’m looking for any information you might have on Rebecca Barnes? She was Bucky Barnes adopted sister.”

“Of course. Would you like newspaper articles, or books or….”

“Actually, could you just show me everything you have? I want to get as much information as possible,” He had said, turning on the charm, absolutely elated that there might be something.

She smiled “Of course. Follow me,”

In few minutes he had been alone, in a quiet room, poring over newspaper articles from the 40’s, learning all he could about his family. Once he became a hero, one of the Howling Commando’s, the newspaper covered everything they could about his family, including Becca's adoption, even though it had happened long before he became a Commando. Bucky read the articles about his funeral, including an image of Becca crying over his closed casket, which he knew was empty, and his heart broke. Then he found an article, one that shocked him. It had been at the very bottom of the pile, which had been in chronological order. And it was the last article. The headline read:

Rebecca Barnes Missing, Possibly Kidnapped 

Bucky was shocked. Dead end, there were no more articles, and she was probably dead anyways. He was packing up to leave when the librarian popped in. “I’m sorry, but I found more information. There a Rebecca Barnes in an orphanage in Brooklyn. I was wondering if you would be interested in her public records?”

Bucky smiled. “That would be great, thanks”

He saw the librarian blush, and she handed him few papers. “Are you done with these?” she asked. Motioning to the pile of newspaper articles. 

“Yes, thanks,” Bucky said, and he began reading the files as she cleaned up the newspaper. The file included a description, and then, at the very end, a picture. It had to be Becca. Bucky was shocked, he didn’t believe it. Then he reminded himself it must have been just a huge coincidence. She was too old, plus this was 2015, not the 40’s. 

He visited anyways. 

~~~~~~~~~  
“Bucky?” Steve said, calling into the kitchen “You home?”

“Yeah,” said Bucky quietly “What’s up?”

Steve jumped “Oh! hey. I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie with me.”

“Um. Sure. But I thought the only TV thingy was in your room.”

“Um, it is but...nevermind”

Bucky panicked silently, great job loser “No, no, its fine! What are we gona watch?” 

“Um….I don’t actually know, somebody recommended this movie called Frozen….I don’t know, I guess lots of pop culture references are being made about it and stuff.”

“Isn’t it Disney?” 

“Um.”

Bucky smiled, even though it was hard “It's okay, I don’t mind Disney. Remember when we took your cousins to see Bambi?”

“Oh, god. I dont think I have ever seen so much crying in one place.”

“If I remember correctly, you were crying too,” Bucky said defiantly.

“Ugh, do you want to watch this movie or not?”

Bucky checked the clock. 8:00, maybe Stevie would fall asleep during the movie and-no. Stop. This is your friend you're talking about. He turned to Steve. “Yeah, lets go”

After about an hour of singing and ice, Steve fell asleep. On Bucky's shoulder. With one of his hands on Bucky’s knee. God, Bucky thought, Steve was going to be the death of him. 

Steve woke in time to find Bucky crying over Anna’s sacrifice, and Bucky didn’t realize he was awake until he had heard him silently snickering, which got him a light punch in the gut (with his right arm)

And soon they had both fallen asleep watching Bambi, because even though neither of them would admit it, that was their favorite movie (Tony Stark had figured this out after hacking their TV and seeing what they were watching. He was debating whether or not to leave some old Captain America movies ‘lying around’).

Bucky was woken up the next morning by a string of text messages in his phone, all of which were from the orphanage (Except one from Natasha, asking if him and Steve had wanted donuts. Natasha and Bucky had become best friends since his memory had come back, bonding over old war stories, and Russia. Bucky had immediately texted back yes, and requested chocolate of all kinds.)

When Bucky checked the texts from the orphanage, he then checked the time and jumped out of bed, swearing. This woke Steve up, the swearing was so loud and profane it could raise the dead. “Buck? Why are you-thats my sweater. And my shoes-is the world ending?” Bucky’s response was a jumbled mess of mumbling, so similar to when Steve had found him in the HYDRA base, under some sinister machine, the first time he came back from the dead, that something in Steve tightened, and he jumped out of the bed to follow. He walked up to Bucky, and placed his hand on his shoulders, making Bucky look him in the eye. “What. Is going on?”

Bucky slumped, and looked at the ground “I have a sister.”


	2. Chapter 2

“I can’t explain go into detail, I’m bad at telling her story anyways, and she likes to tell it, but-”

“Bucky,” Steve interjected “It’s fine. Just drive, and you can explain what you can along the way.”

“Okay. I-okay. Just don’t pay attention to what she says when you meet her. Shes-shes annoying, really.” 

“How old is she?”

“Fourteen. Fifteen. We don’t know”

“And why are we rushing hurriedly to an orphanage?”

Bucky sighed “I had her on a kind of probation, to determine if I wanted to adopt her or not, and today is the last day. I have to decide.”

“And do you want to adopt her?”

“Yeah, shes a great kid, I just wasn’t sure how you felt about children now, and Tony says no pets….”

“Bucky. Children aren't pets. You can bring them into the tower.”

“Oh. You should meet her first, but….”

“No if she your sister….how is she your sister?”

Bucky rubbed his eyes with his right hand. His left one was covered with a leather jacket and glove “Thats part of her story. You’ll see. We’re here” 

They stepped out of the car, into modern Brooklyn. Steve stopped short. This was their old apartment building, they had lived here together, back in the 40’s. “Bucky,” 

“Yeah. I know. I had trouble going inside the first time.” Bucky stepped around him. “C’mon.”

They walked up the steps, and once they got inside, up the familiar stairs, to the fourth floor. Once they entered the hall, chaos ensued. There was yelling, hitting, everything. “There!” shouted Bucky over the noise “The girl with the purple hair!” 

Steve looked for a second, not seeing anything. Until he spotted a girl, sitting in the corner, scribbling on a piece of paper. She was hard to miss, her hair was varying shades of purple, and there was a bubble of space around her where children weren’t playing. She looked dangerous. 

“I know, and she is,” Bucky said, deflating. 

“Crap, Buck, did I say that out loud?” 

“Yeah. It’s okay, let me introduce you.” Bucky whistled, and the girls head jerked up. her reaction was almost military, snapping to attention. She found Bucky, and smiled, nodding her head to a door, and she begins to walk towards it. 

“C’mon, we’ll meet her in there. And cover your butt, it’s Slap-Ass Friday.”

“Slap-Ass….?” Steve asked, as he saw a teenage girl get slapped by a younger boy. She turned around, snarling, and grabbed him by his collar, shaking him. Steve hurried to catch up with Bucky. 

The girl walked into the room, and suddenly a stream of children walked out. An older girl, who was carrying a toddler, stopped them when they reached the threshold. “Watch her with the baby” she said, her eyes making her look older than she was. 

Bucky sighed. “Do you want me to bring him to you?”

She jutted her chin towards Steve “He can. You talk to her.”

Bucky walked into the room, motioning for Steve to follow. The room was long, with beds lining the wall, and with a couple of cribs closer to the door. In one was a young baby boy. “Take him out to Emille,” muttered Bucky “I’m gonna talk to her.” He motioned to the girl, who was curled up with her knees to her face, on the bed furthest from the cribs. 

As Steve walked out with the baby, she immediately relaxed. “Holy crap! Thats Captain Rogers! Captain America! Steve! Your weird adorable best-friend-crush-thing!”

“Stop yelling! Jeez, just shout it from the rooftops, why dontcha?” He rubbed his eyes “But yeah, that’s Steve. We’re roommates now, thats it, so shut up,” 

“Yessir,” She said Hydra-saluting, both fists in the air. She dropped her arms suddenly as Steve walked in. 

“Steve, this is Becca, Becca this is Steve” Bucky said, properly introducing them. 

Becca stuck out her left hand, holding her right firmly at her side. “Nice to meet you Steve,” She said as they shook hands “I’ve heard a lot about you. You're much taller than Jamie explained.”

Bucky made a choking noise, and Becca winked. Steve glanced at Bucky, confused. Bucky avoided his eyes, and turned to Becca “So whats with the kids?” 

Her face fell, and Steve knew that Bucky had aimed low. “I just wanted to hold him,” she said, staring off. Suddenly she snapped back to reality. “Not that you would understand, Mr. My-Right-Hand-Works-Just-As-Good-As-My-Left. Anyways, am I getting out of this dump or not?”

Buky turned towards Steve “It’s really up to him….” He mumbled, nodding towards Steve. “I’d love to get you out, but it’s his apartment, so….yeah” They both turned to look at Steve imploringly, and Steve felt Bucky was asking to keep a lost puppy. Steve smiled in spite of himself “Definitely, pack your stuff, I have to call Tony and let him know.”

Becca grinned and gave Steve a big hug, and another to Bucky. Both times she kept her right arm limp at her side. As she packed, Bucky and Steve walked downstairs to let the orphanage owner know that they would be taking Becca, and sign some papers “Thank you, Steve, she hates it here.” Said Bucky, knocking Steve’s shoulder.

“No problem. What's the deal with her arm?” Asked Steve. Bucky’s face fell.

“Thats part of her story. Which is pretty depressing. She may not explain it today. Sorry, but-”

“No, its fine, I was just worried she was uncomfortable with me.”

“Are you kidding me? She loves you! She’s wanted to meet you for a while. She doesn’t really smile around new people, either.” 

So he’s talked about me to her? Steve thought. “You talk like she’s a pet or something.”

“Sometimes, she is more pet than sister.”

“Thanks,” said Becca, as she stepped into the office with them, “Even though I had to hide your sorry ass for months” 

“Whatever. I haven’t signed the paperwork, I could still leave you here.”

“Nope. Steve wouldn’t let you. Plus, they’re trying to find me.”

Bucky’s face fell. “I know, I know. Go with Steve, I’m almost done here.”

They walked out of the building, and towards the car. 

“So, what is it like being Captain America?” Dawn asked.

“Pretty uneventful since I found Bucky. So you guys are brother and sister?”

“Yeah. I’ll explain it later, I don’t want to deal with it now.”

“Okay….?” Steve asked confusedly 

“Sorry,” Becca laughed “It’s just been a long day, and I’m pretty tired.”

“No, I get it.,” They had reached the car by now, with Bucky following after. Dawn pulled open the passenger door. 

“Oh, no. Thats my seat” Bucky said, throwing Becca’s stuff in the trunk. 

“Hmmm....funny. ‘Cause I’m sitting here.” Becca said, sliding into the car. 

Bucky grumbled, and wrenched open the door, pulling Becca out. She wriggled around, until Bucky slung her over his shoulder, and dumped her in the back. 

“It’s not like he’s your boyfriend or anything.” she grumbled as they drove off, causing Bucky to reach back and pinch her. “Foul!” She called “Steve! He used his metal hand! My arms gonna blister!”

Bucky turned to her, and started yelling in Russian. “Я скажу ему об этом ! Клянусь богом , черт я буду! Иисус!” I'm gonna tell him all about it! I swear to god, damn I will! Jesus!

“Хорошо! Отлично! подождите , держать кричать . Он смотрит очаровательны , когда он боится !” She responded. Okay! Fine! Wait, keep shouting. He looks adorable when he's scared!

“Ваше зло, вы знаете, что ? Абсолютно - дерьмо . Твое право. Бог , ждать, пока вы не встретиться с Наташей . Она знает , я клянусь, что она знает . Дерьмо . Я не могу поверить, что его лицо прямо сейчас .” Your evil, you know that? Absolutely-shit. Your right. God, wait until you meet Natasha. She knows, I swear she knows. Shit. I cannot believe his face right now. 

“Любовь больной маленький щенок” Love Sick little puppy. 

And with that they were done, leaving Steve looking extremely confused, and little scared. 

They walked into the tower to find a message from Tony, asking them all to meet on his floor ‘And bring the kid, too’. And so Becca’s story would have to wait, as she was going to be scrutinized by the Avengers, which she very well knew.

She immediately buddied up to Natasha, and after Becca had met everyone, thats who she sat with, in the corner, whispering in Russian, and every once in a while Bucky would shout something across the room in the same language, and they would either nod in assent, or shake their heads and begin arguing loudly until one of them conceded. 

Becca fell asleep on Tony’s couch sometime around ten, her head in Bucky’s lap, watching TV. Bruce was the first to notice, and Steve and Bucky left shortly after that, Bucky carrying Becca up to her room.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Bucky and Steve were in the kitchen, making pancakes. “Could you go grab Becca? She should be awake.” Asked Bucky, flipping pancakes and still slightly groggy. 

“Sure,” Said Steve, walking towards the room Becca had been given. It was still pretty bland, he should help her decorate it today. Little did he know that this would have to wait. He walked in, looking for Becca. But instead he saw a mess of metal, artificial parts. He blinked, not comprehending who had taken over Becca’s room. He saw an arm, almost exact to Bucky’s, but without the star, and on the right side. She looked up, throwing her cloth away. Her arm-it-it-reassembled. This person had been….cleaning it? He looked at her face, and almost fell over. Instead he just stumbled back. It was Becca. And-her face-it was-was-missing, almost. a cybernetic eye took up nearly half her face. When had this happened? She had looked normal at the orphanage. 

He had to be dreaming. Hallucinating. This wasn’t real. Not-true. And he believed this. Until she started talking. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. Shit, I thought he told you. I-I know, it’s bad. Shit. I’m sorry. I just-sorry. I’m-bye” And she ran out of the room before Steve could calculate what had happened. 

When he heard her yelling in the kitchen, he rushed back out, steeling himself. “You warned him about nothing! You didn’t tell him about the arm, the eye, you didn’t tell him jack shit and now he’s going to want me to leave, because you didn’t tell him!”

Bucky sat there, looking guilty, and like he was going to cry. She started crying first, and Bucky grabbed her, and gave her a big hug. “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to be cleaning it, and I wasn’t thinking. You would have had to tell him anyways. Do you want to tell them all at once? It might be a lot, but you wouldn’t need to repeat it.”

“Okay. But I’m not showing them until the end. I’m turning the hologram on now.” and she reached up behind her ear with her metal hand, and pressed a button. All evidence of anything mechanical faded quickly, and soon she looked normal again. Right then Steve walked in. Becca saw him, and she walked out. “I’m going to find Natasha” she called, fighting back tears. 

“Bucky. I’m sorry, its my fault, I didn’t know-” Steve began.

“No, its not your fault, You couldn’t have known. She’s going to tell everyone her story now. Can you send out a message and ask them to meet us down here? I’m gonna go rescue Natasha….”

This time Steve stopped him. “Bucky. You’re not mad at me, are you?”

Bucky stopped. he looked shocked Steve would even think that. “Of course not Steve. I’m just worried about Becca. You understand, right?”

“Of course, sorry. Go do what you’re gonna do, I’ll send out the message.” Bucky seriously wanted to kiss Steve before he walked out. He didn’t.

 

They all met in the living room on Bucky and Steve’s floor. All of the Avengers looked confused, especially Pietro and Wanda, having just shown up a few hours ago, after making peace with the X-men. As they settled, Becca started her story. 

“I was born in the 1930’s. I grew up an orphan, left at the orphanage at the age of two. Bucky’s parents adopted me when I was twelve, after rotating homes and being rejected each time. I wasn’t expecting his house to be any different.

“But it was, and I connected with Bucky immediately, he told me his secrets and I told him mine, and even though they were pretty benign, he listened. After I had been at his home for about six months, Bucky got drafted, and was sent out. We received a DIA a little while later. We all cried, and everything was incredibly depressing, until we heard the reports about how ‘Captain America’ had saved hundreds of men, Bucky included. So he was alive again. Fighting alongside Captain America, with the Howling Commandos. 

Becca sighed “And then he wasn’t. He was gone, fell off a train, the idiot. The mourning started again. I stayed away from the house, I hated it there, all these relatives I didn’t know. Then one night, which was approximately six months after Bucky had had his first mission as the Winter Soldier, I later found out, I was woken up late one night, by men in masks, speaking German. I flipped out, World War II was still happening, they could be spies, and it was by duty to report them. I never got to. They took me from my home, and suddenly I was in training to become the next best hitman. And they used Bucky as blackmail. He didn’t know me, but I still loved him, and I wanted him alive. So I obeyed.

“If Bucky wasn’t available, then I got to kill people. Usually I was just used for dirty work. The bad stuff, stuff nobody in their right mind would do. And me. I remember, I had to fight him before I could be advertised. Hand-to-hand. At first I tried talking to him, asking him not to hurt me. Then I realized that he wasn’t in there anymore. Not on the surface, at least. So I fought as hard as I could. I kept going, until he got me with his metal arm, and I was down for the count.

“I remember that,” Bucky said. “it wasn’t the last time we fought,”

“No, it wasn’t. But the next times I was more careful, that first time I broke my hand, and had to go on my first mission slightly injured. That one was the worst. They placed me in the middle of some warzone, I can’t remember where, and told me to kill the leader. I killed them, but on the way out, A bomb went off not more than ten feet from me. It’s what caused most of this-” 

She took a deep breath, and then pressed a spot, a button, behind her right ear. And the fake hologram faded. Now they got the full view or what had happened. Her right entire arm was metal, but it was much cruder than Bucky’s, Steve (and Stark) noticed. Her eye still took up nearly half of her face, and Steve could see it’s circuit endings, and how it bugged out slightly, not fitting well.

“This isn’t it. On the outside, I have a metal foot, and a metal kneecap, both of those are on my right side, where I also have a weird circuit-board thingy. I have way more internal injuries, though. Working for HYDRA can do that. After Bucky got out, so did I. And there still after me.”

The whole room was quiet. Stark was the first to recover. “What internal injuries?”

Becca smiled ruefully “One chamber of my heart, part of one of my lungs, a collarbone, my right temple is plated, and most of my immune system is being monitored by miniature, independant AI’s. I’m a mess” 

Natasha walked over and curled up around her. “It’s gonna be okay. We won’t let HYDRA get you. You’re staying with us”

Becca smiled “Thanks. But, I really hate wearing this hologram, it makes me feel sick. Are you guys okay if I leave it off when I’m in the tower? I’ll wear it outside and everything, but-”

“Of course. Whatever you need to feel comfortable”

“Tony.” Bruce said “Were you just-polite?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tony said, and he walked out quickly. 

Becca sniggered, and turned towards Pietro and Wanda. “Я не считаю, что мы официально встречались.” I don’t believe we’ve formally met. They both grinned, and Bucky made his introductions in Russian. 

Afterwards, Natasha made an announcement. “I’m taking Becca shopping. Clint, and Wanda, are coming, and Bruce is going to be running some tests on Pietro with Tony, so Steve and Bucky, you have the tower to yourselves. Have fun!” She called, before slipping out the door with Becca, Clint, and Wanda, as Tony, Pietro, and Bruce disappeared downstairs.

“So….What do you want to do?” Bucky asked awkwardly, suddenly nervous. 

“We still haven’t had breakfast,” Steve offered. “You wanna do that?”

“Sure, yeah, lets do that” 

Steve warmed up the pancakes, and Bucky set the table. As Steve sat down, Bucky tensed involuntarily. Relax, nothing’s gonna happen. Sleeping by him was a fluke, nothing’s gonna happen, nothing at all-

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Steve asked, face unreadable.

“I wanted to, but it was painful for me, and I didn’t want you to back out. I was afraid you wouldn’t want her after I told you.” 

“Bucky. She. Is. Your. Sister. And you know very well, that if you want anything, I will not be able to resist. Your persuasive like that.”

Bucky smiled, grateful. “Awe, thanks. So, what do you want to do today?”

Steve shrugged “I kinda just wanted to watch more movies. Take it easy, and critique Becca’s clothing when she gets back.” 

“Alright, sounds doable. I may strain a couple of muscles though”

“If you do, I’ll carry you into the emergency room,”

And so they walked into Steve's room, and turned on Mulan. About an hour in, Bucky talked. “This was probably the most scandalous film Disney ever made.”

“What do you mean?” Steve asked, curious. 

“It features a nearly gay relationship, and powerful woman, its relatively historically accurate, and it has a cross-dresser.”

“Disney should make a gay movie. Like, for kids, not completely outrageous.”

“I hear you. Makes sense. I would watch it.”

“Yeah, I bet a lot of people would.”

“A lot of people wouldn’t, though. Thats what sucks,”

“It’s better than it was in the 40’s, though,” 

“True, true,”

“Random question: How many languages can you speak?”

“Well, I speak German, Russian, and English fluently, but I have had to learn different lines in different languages so I can tell people that they need to pay HYDRA and stuff. Why do you ask?”

“No real reason. You use Russian the most right?”

“Yeah….” 

“Okay, cool, forget I asked,”

“Okay, whatever.”

As they watched, Bucky fell asleep, and began mumbling in his sleep. Steve put the movie on silent, trying to listen. He soon realized Bucky was mumbling in Russian. Then, when Steve was about to put the sound back on, he heard names. Bucky said his name, and Becca’s name. “Can you record this?” Steve called to J.A.R.V.I.S. 

“Certainly, sir, I have been recording you the whole time. Mr. Stark requested that I do so whenever you and Bucky were alone in a room together”

“Why?”

“He did not disclose that information, Sir.”

“Alright, send it to me, I want Becca to translate what Bucky said.”

“Would you like me to focus the sound on his speech patterns?”

“Um….Sure?” 

“Very good, Sir,” 

~~~~~~~~~

Everyone else got home around four. He and Bucky had watched Mulan, Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Princess and the Frog. Becca’s entrance was almost silent, probably from her ‘training’ in HYDRA. That is, until Natasha threw open the door, and screamed “A BOY. BECCA MET A BOY”

Bucky snapped awake. “Becca. What.”

“OHMYGOD NATASHA. SHUT UP,” said Becca, avoiding her brothers protective glare. 

“Bucky. She met a boy. And he flirted with her. And gave her his number.”

“Clint scared him away, its okay.”

Bucky glared, but in his eyes you could tell he was unsure of what to do with this information. Natasha grinned even bigger than she was before. “Она получила друга , прежде чем вы сделали” She might get a boyfriend before you do. Bucky glared even harder, and sat up, looking tense. 

“Um….if you guys are going to fight, please leave my room,” Steve said uncertainly. 

Bucky just got up and walked out, and Natasha followed. 

Becca rolled her eyes. “He’s just a drama queen,” and turned around, about to walk out.

“Hey Becca,” Steve called, and she stopped walking.

“Yeah?”

“This may seem weird, but could you translate this tape for me?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Um, Bucky started talking in his sleep, and he said my name and yours. He was talking in Russian, though, so I couldn’t tell what he said, and I’m a little curious,”

“Sure. Let me just grab a pen and paper really quick.”

“Okay,” Steve said, setting up the recording with a set of headphones. Becca returned with a pen and a couple sheets of paper, and sat down at Steve’s desk, listening to the recording at least three times. The last time, she seems to catch something. She suddenly stopped scribbling, and paled. “Oh god,” she muttered, before rushing out of the room. Steve looked over, his eyes skipping to the last few lines. 

“I’m sorry. So sorry. They made me do it. Come back. You can’t be dead. Don’t be dead. St-”


	4. Chapter 4

Becca rushed out to Bucky and Natasha arguing in German this time, and she interrupted immediately. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Bucky stopped and stared at her with utmost confusion. “Huh?”

“The nightmares. Why didn’t you tell me?”

She could see Bucky slouch, completely deflate “I-I don’t know. How’d you find out?”

“Steve. Recorded you sleep talking, had me translate it into English. And I came up with some bitterly sad shit.”

Steve looked over the paper. Bucky still had nightmares. Bad ones, about being taken back by HYDRA, being forced to kill his friends. Steve wasn’t surprised, he still had nightmares about….everything really. The war, being frozen again, his friends dying, and, every once in a while, the serum wearing off. That one was the worse, it terrified him. It had been bad when he was younger, but nobody had ever known different. The idea that he would have to leave, he would become something much worse. Most likely, he would die. 

He hated the idea that he even had these nightmares, much less that they were worse than his others. He cleared the idea from his head, and walked out, to help calm Becca down. He could hear her yelling already.

 

“Becca. Its fine. Stop. I know I’m dreaming, when I’m dreaming.”

“I wasn’t only talking about the nightmare. There was also so much whining about what's-is-face that I almost puked. Get your crap together.” 

Bucky turned bright red. “I can’t believe you. You are capable of so many kinds of evil, I can’t believe you're not running HYDRA.”

Becca grinned, calming down. “Whatever” she said, and she plopped down next to Bucky and Natasha. “What were you guys talking about, before I so rudely barged in?”

“Josh,”

Becca covered her eyes, groaning. “Why do you torture me with this?”

“Well, from what I heard, he seemed pretty interested in you!” Bucky said intently, resembling everything an older brother should, only slightly more terrifying.

“Oh, he was!,” Natasha said, much too happy to provide more information. “He bought her something!”

“Oh, did he?” Bucky said harshly, raising his eyebrows.

“What'd he get you?” asked Steve, walking out, trying to look nonchalant, but at the same time looking pained. 

“Nothing. Something Stupid. It no big deal, I’ll probably return it.”

“Only because you would get to see him again!”

“What, did he work there or something?” Steve asked for Bucky, who looked furious beyond words.

“No, definitely not. Um. His brother did. And. He got to hang out behind the counter, so he bought me this hat-”

“Don’t forget the necklace!” Chimed in Clint, who was sharing a loveseat with Natasha, and polishing his arrows.

“Oh god, the necklace. He bought me this hat and necklace and gave me a bunch of other stuff, most of it at a discount, and the gave me his number, and that was it.”

“And?” Bucky finally spoke, still red.

“And what? I kept it. It’s in the bag. I was gonna show you guys the clothes and stuff anyways. Bucky’s so good at clothing advice,” Becca said, causing Steve to come to the realization that she would do anything to torture Bucky. Or get revenge.

She started pulling clothes out of three bags, one from Hot Topic, Forever 21, and Zumiez. 

“Wow,” Steve said “Who payed for all of that?”

Becca grinned “Natasha, at first. Then she texted Stark, and now he gives me an allowance,”

Bucky whistled “For how much?”

“Enough,” was all Becca said. 

“Well Ms. High-and-Mighty, what have you got?”

“Lots of stuff. I got a few dresses, some nice shirts, lots of shorts, and a couple of pairs of pants.”

“Let us see it! But first, I want to see the hats he got you.”

Becca pulled out two hats, one beanie and a snapback. The beanie had the avengers symbol on it, and the snapback had a simple skull and crossbones design. “I think he recognized Clint and Natasha. He seemed pretty excited when they walked up.”

Bucky motioned for her to go on, and she began pulling clothes out of bags. Every single item was black, red, or covered in some superhero embellishments. The interesting thing was, a few of her shirts had some bad guys on it. Tony Stark was very surprised with her Loki tank. 

“I’m not sure who got the idea, but I really liked it. So, yeah he bought it for me.” 

The last item she pulled out was a dress. It was lighter colors, black and white, and it had Alice from Alice in Wonderland on it. “This one is probably my favorite.” Becca said happily, and she plopped down on the couch next to Bucky, leaning on his arm. “So what do you guys think?”

“I’m never letting Natasha taking you shopping again. I will hire a nun to take you shopping.”

“My clothes are not that bad! I didn’t even buy any insanely bad shorts!”

“She’s right, there were some really bad things she didn’t even look at.” Natasha cut in. 

“Whatever,” Bucky grumbled, and crossed his arms, looking so much like a pouting five-year-old that Natasha laughed out loud. 

“I want to know about this Josh person.” Steve said, trying not to smile. 

“He was just a guy. Not much more to tell, I’ll probably text him later, and be done with it.”

“You do know that he can’t know about your eye and stuff, right?” Bucky asked, looking concerned.

“Yeah, I know. That’s why nothing's gonna happen. Speaking of which,” Becca pressed the button, and the hologram disappeared. “You know, Bruce and Tony could probably make one of these for you” Becca said, referring to the hologram. 

“Nah. I like scaring people with it if I need to.” Buck said happily, and wrapped his arm around Becca. “I’m surprised you didn’t take off the hologram at the orphanage. Scare the shit out of the little weasels.”

Becca laughed, and shoved Bucky. “Please. I like kids. You do too. You hate scaring them. That’s why, in the 40’s, you helped your parents choose who to adopt!”

“Oh! He did?” Steve asked, genuinely happy.

“I swear to god, he must have held every baby in that place. And played with every kid. It was sickening.”

“How did he choose you?”

“I got in a fight. A few boys were beating up a little girl, and I hit them. It had happened before, and they were gonna kick me out. So the Barnes's adopted me.”

“Wow. I still can’t believe that I didn’t meet you sooner.”

“Bucky was scared I would release all your secrets,” Becca teased.

“Still am.” Bucky cut in, and Becca looked at him confusedly. 

“он не знает?” He doesn’t know?

Bucky shook his head. “не хотя сказать ему” Haven’t thought to tell him.

“Вы хотите , чтобы сказать ему ?” Do you want to tell him?

“Он не чувствует себяже, но если он сделал, да.” He doesn’t feel the same, but if he did, yeah.

Becca nodded “Alright then,” She smiled at a confused Steve, who opened his mouth, but was cut off when Tony Stark’s voice cut through the air. 

“We have a crazy octopus-man ransacking downtown New York. We need to leave now.”

As the Avengers started standing up, and grabbing their gear, Bucky caught Steve’s arm. “What can we do?”

“Just stay here. We’ll deal with it.”

Bucky nodded, but Becca could tell he wanted to get out there and help. “At least let us come on the jet with you. We can help, I know how to fly it.” Becca pleaded. 

Steve nodded. “Okay, but you are staying there. If one of us gets hurt, we’ll get sent to the jet, for medical assistance. We’ll need you there for that.”

“Perfect,” Becca said, and Bucky left to get a jacket for her, and himself.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon Steve jumped down from the Jet, Bucky started fidgeting. “Hey. it’ll be okay. Steve’s not stupid.” Becca said, resting her hand on Bucky’s shoulder. 

“ I know. He’s just a punk, he feels invincible. I worry.”

“You sound exactly like a concerned boyfriend. Put your comms in.”

“Yes’m,” Bucky said, and he placed the comm in his ear, listening to Steve direct orders. 

Becca covered the microphone “Get the First Aid station ready. This seems serious.” She warned, and looked back out, watching the fight from above. “We have another target. Seems friendly,” she said as a man in a red and blue spandex costume raced onto the scene, swinging on-

“Are those spider webs?” Bucky asked, looking out the window. 

“Seems like it Buck. There all over his suit too,” Steve answered through the comms, and Bucky blushed a little.

Becca and Bucky watched from above, and after a little while, Bucky took of his comm, overwhelmed by the sounds of the fight. “Just a little PTSD,” He said, brushing off Becca’s concern, and putting on a set of headphones. He took them off a little later, when he heard Becca yelling, “Five more. I repeat, five more have reached the scene. All civilians have been evacuated the next 12 blocks out, but watch for stragglers.” 

Bucky rushed to the window, to see the man with the octopus-like metal arms lying almost catatonic on the ground, with five more men rushing towards the Avengers and the new ally “That's Spiderman,” Becca informed him, as she made sure none of the Avengers were injured. The five new men stood in a line. One was partially sand, another with electricity pulsing from his hands and arms. A man dressed in furs had two lions standing next to him, and on his other side was a man wearing what looked like a fishbowl on his head. A bald man with feathers on his arms, resembling wings, made the first move. He went straight for Black Widow, but Hawkeye shot one of his ‘wings’ before he got close. As every one retaliated, Bucky found his eyes fixed one Steve, graciously racing from one criminal to another, hitting, kicking, before handing them off to another Avenger. Then he came upon the man with the lions. 

He hesitated. Steve had always liked animals, and he didn’t want to hurt them. The lions threw him off, he didn’t want to believe they were going to hurt him. And then they attacked him.

Both jumped at him at the same time, and Bucky nearly screamed. One went after Steve’s left shoulder, and other bit his leg. Spiderman jumped on them and chased them off, and Becca could hear Steve’s pain filled moan through the comms. “I’m sending Bucky down to grab Cap for medical attention.” she said into her comm, and motioned for Bucky to get a stretcher ready. She lowered down the platform carrying Buck and the stretcher, and watched as Bucky punched the sandy guy out of the way with his metal arm, and as Black Widow helped him get Steve on the stretcher. Bucky kept his calm, until Steve was in the ship and Bucky actually looked at him. 

“Oh god. Steve. Oh-oh god. Becca. Help. Oh god.”

“Okay, back up. I’ll do most of the work, don’t worry.” Becca spent about fifteen minutes cutting of parts of Steve uniform and cleaning, sewing and dressing his wounds, and she talked the whole time. She mostly talked to calm Bucky and Steve, who slowly became more conscious as she gave him more pain meds. Eventually she finished up, leaving Bucky and Steve down in the medical ward, to make sure nobody else would need medical attention once the fight ended. 

Steve, next to high on pain medications, grinned at Bucky lazily. “Heeeyy Buccckkkyyy,”

Bucky couldn’t help but rub Steve’s head. “Hey Stevie. You feeling okay?”

“Mmmmhhhmmm….Ya know what Bucky?” 

“What Steve?”

“I love yyyyou,”

“Steve. Go to sleep.” Bucky said, grinning. Steve got like this back in the 40’s when he had had heat stroke, or had to take medicine. He was not very immune to pain medication. 

Bucky headed back upstairs. “How’s he doing?” Becca called out from where she was splintering the spider-dude’s arm. 

“Fine. He said some funny stuff, so I told him to go to sleep. That okay?”

“Yeah.” Becca motioned him over, and Bucky saw Clint and Natasha asleep, cuddling while Tony flew the plane back. “What kind of stuff?”

“Он сказал , что любит меня .” He told me he loved me. 

Becca stared at him, open mouthed. “Well then,” she said, returning to her task at hand. “What did you say?”

“I just told him to go back to sleep. He’s said stuff like that before, only when he was on pain medication, or sick. It’s harmless,” 

“Mmmmhhm. Sure. Hold this.” She said, and handed Bucky some weird contraption. 

“Ew! its sticky!” He recoiled, and held his hands as far away from him as possible

“I know, thats why you get to hold it. This is Spiderman, by the way.” She motioned to the guy she was working on. 

“Hi,” he said tiredly. “How you doin’?” 

“Fine. What's with the mask?”

“I have to keep my identity somehow.” He said, and Bucky could hear the yawn in his voice.

“Go to sleep, dude, were taking you to the tower.” Becca walked him over to another cot. 

“So. You feeling okay?” he asked her as she washed her left hand. 

“Yeah. Tired, but yeah. I want to wash my arm, but it’ll scare Spiderman.” 

“I’m fine!” he called, sitting up slightly “My friend Wade is scarred like crazy. What’s wrong with a metal arm?”

Becca chuckled, and reached behind her ear. When the hologram was come completely, Becca and Bucky both heard Spiderman gasp, even though they pretended not to. Becca turned around, and began to clean out her arm, and Bucky grimaced when he saw the dried blood. “You need any help?”

“Please. They cleaned your arm for you, I had to figure it out on my own. I can manage, thanks. Go check on Steve, he’s probably lonely.” 

And so Bucky tiptoed back downstairs to entertain Steve until they made it back to the Tower.

 

They made it back in just enough time to see that about every single news station was doing a story about the Avenger’s downtown battle with the Sinister Six. (“Nobody ever mentions me,” Spiderman grumbled, after seeing two different news channels talking about Captain America’s bravery.)

Steve was much better, and getting used to the painkillers now, Becca let him sit and watch with the rest of them. 

“When did you become a doctor?” Tony asked her when she was checking him for wounds. 

Becca shrugged “I had to deal with a lot of my own injuries, stopping the blood flow and stuff when I was part of HYDRA. I just kind of learned.”

“What about the arm?” Clint asked, polishing his arrows. 

“That one I passed out. Somebody on my team came along and tried to stop the bleeding before calling HYDRA. But with my foot, I stopped the bleeding until somebody came to pick me up.”

“Wow.” Bucky said, and Steve whistled low. “How did you deal with the pain?”

“All women have a sort of pain training, and have since they were kids.” Natasha said, grinning.

“Really? What is it?” Spiderman asked curiously.

“Its called getting your period,” Natasha responded, grinning evilly. 

Becca laughed. “I was about to say something to that extent. We get used to seeing blood that way too.”

Bucky and Thor laughed nervously, Tony and Bruce pretended to be be very busy, Clint barely batted an eye, and Spiderman looked sick, if that was possible through the mask. 

“Hey Spidey,” Clint called, finally looking up from his arrows.

“Yeah?”

“If you’re gonna be on the team, we kinda need to know your name,” 

“Wait, I can be on the team?”

“Yeah, totally. Right?” Clint said, looking out at the rest of them.

“Definetly. He helped us out there. That is, if you want to be part of it” Steve said, looking at Spiderman. 

“Wow. It would be great to be part of a team. Thank you.” 

After he sat happily for a second, Becca prompted him, her eyes, metal and real, glinting as she leaned forward slightly “So….Name?”

“Oh! Right! Yeah-” Spiderman took off his mask. His hair was brown, and mussed up “My name’s Peter Parker.”

 

Later that night, after Bucky and Becca had gone to lay down in their rooms, Steve slowly worked his way out of bed, carefully, so as not to stress any of his wounds, and crept over to his desk. Becca had left her papers translating Bucky’s dreams there, and Steve was curious. Not for any real reason but….Steve was pretty sure he had heard his name more than that one dream. 

So he grabbed the papers, and began reading. And stopped. It was nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. It was painful, actually. But what had Steve been expecting? Bucky confessing his hidden love for him? Please. Bucky was….not that. Bucky was loyal, and girls loved him. He was….something. Different. 

But still, Steve kept reading, and when he came across a dream that wasn’t a nightmare, that was what he had been hoping for, he finally fell asleep, waking up thinking that it was just a dream.


	6. Chapter 6

“BUCKY!!!!” Becca screamed, bouncing up and down on Bucky’s bed a few days later.

“Wut,” Bucky grumbled, because it was clearly too early for this shit.

“Iwantfoooood!!!” She said loudly, acting like a hyperactive ten-year old. 

“Go pester Steve,” He said, but he was already awake. 

“No, I want Steve to like me. And its his snoring that woke me up this early.”

“Wait. What time is it?” Bucky looked at the digital clock by his bedside. “Its six in the goddamn morning. Its Saturday.”

“I know! I wasn’t happy about it either, but I couldn’t fall back asleep and I’m having cravings for chocolate-chip pancakes.” 

“I’ll just burn those. We can either wake Steve up, and force him to make food, or stop his snoring and give you sleeping pills.”

“Stop his snoring and then I’ll fall asleep, and then we can force him to make us food after we wake up,” Becca said in a rush.

It took Bucky a few seconds to comprehend what she said. “Jesus, whats wrong with you?”

“I may or may not have already raided the kitchen looking for chocolate.” Becca’s eye’s bugged slightly. “I’ll be fine. I just need to work it outta my system.”

“What’d you do that for?” Bucky asked, hearing only the first half of her explanation.

“Because blood. Can we go now” She whined, poking Bucky again. 

“Fine, just lemme get a shirt-”

“No,” Becca said darkly. Bucky blinked “We need to go now,”

“Okay, okay, Jeez. Lets go smother Stevie,”

“You can smother Stevie. I’m stopping his snoring.”

Bucky shoved her as they walked down the hall “Your disgusting,”

Becca stuck out her tongue, then put a finger to her lips. And then Bucky heard it.

Steve had snored in the 40’s, but he wasn’t this bad unless he had a sinus infection, and hearing it squeezed Bucky’s heart. “He okay?” He asked quietly, sounding panicked.

Becca reached out and grabbed his real hand with hers, squeezing softly, suddenly calm. She pushed open Steve’s door.

Steve had pages spread out around him, covered in Becca’s handwriting. Bucky picked one up. 

“Whats this?” He asked, and Becca snatched it away before he could read any of it. 

“I translated you talking in your sleep for him one night.”

Bucky’s face suddenly darkened. “What kind of dreams?” 

“Nightmares. James, why didn’t you tell me about them?”

Bucky nearly flinched. Becca only used his birth name when she was really mad, scared, or serious. Her voice seemed like mix of the two latter options. “I didn’t want to worry you. I know you have your own PTSD, its just more buried and controlled.” Then something clicks “How many lovey-dovey ones did I have?” 

“Just one, which was you pining the whole time. You should just talk to him about it.”

“Please, like he wants anything to do with me. Did he read it?”

“He looks at you like you are the sun. And you probably are to him. He read it.”

“WHAT!?” Bucky screamed, and Steve snorted before going back to snoring. They froze, until he seemed settled. “How can you tell?” he stage-whispered. 

“Its lying on his chest. The page I wrote it on,” Becca pointed, and there was one, covered with many more words, right there, smack dab in the middle of Steve’s muscular chest. Bucky gulped. Steve’s hands were holding onto it. Steve’s perfect hands….He snapped himself out of it, and edged over to Steve’s bed, not yet having decided whether he was going to quell Steve’s snoring or take the page away from him first. 

He tripped over an easel or something, and somehow landed lying right next to Steve. He turned to face him, and as he did, Steve woke up a little. 

“Mmmh” He mumbled, and immediately curled up into a little ball next to Bucky, who automatically wrapped his arms around him, before he realized that this was exactly how they had slept in Brooklyn, when they had only been able to afford one mattress, which they dropped on the floor, to poor to afford even a bed frame. 

He was about to nuzzle Steve’s neck like he used to when he was awake and Steve wasn’t, when he heard a camera click. 

Becca had taken out her phone, and was taking pictures. As soon as Bucky whipped his head up, she threw her hands up and put the phone away. 

“Look. You got him to stop snoring. Good job!” And she ran out of there. Bucky was about to follow when Steve nuzzled closer, and wrapped his arm around Bucky’s waist. Bucky sighed. Steve would wake up if he moved, so he would have to wait until they weren't so intertwined. 

To keep himself awake, he focused on Steve’s room, original art hanging on the walls, books lining shelves, and Steve. 

God, he was perfect. But Bucky still missed that skinny kid from Brooklyn.

He would come back after his shift every once in a while to find Steve curled up into a ball on the bed, covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes. After Bucky would clean him up, he’d have a great heroic story about how a couple of guys were messing with some dames, and Steve had told them to eff off, and every time Bucky would laugh, and tell Steve to go to sleep.

Bucky snapped back to reality when Steve shifted, and blinked. Bucky panicked, and was about to jump off the bed when Steve spoke. “You okay, Buck?” He looked concerned, and Bucky felt the arm that had been slung over his waist start to rub his back. 

Bucky cleared his throat. “Um. Yeah. I was sleeping, and Becca woke me up and….” He stopped. This was a stupid story. “Uh. I’ll just go,”

“No, what happened?” Steve’s eyes were glinting, playfull. Punk.

“You were snoring, it woke Becca up, so she woke me up, and we crept in here to do a reconnaissance mission to shut you up.” Bucky blurted. Crap.

“Annnd….?” Steve promoted, glancing pointedly at how they were tangled together.

“Oh. I tripped, and Becca ditched me. I couldn’t move without waking you up, and you stopped snoring, so,” Bucky yawned.

Steve chuckled. “I’m gonna go make breakfast. You go back to sleep, you can stay here, its fine.”

“Mmmok,” Bucky said, already falling back asleep “Becca wanted breakfast, if she’s still up,”

If Steve said anything, Bucky didn’t hear him, he was already falling asleep.

 

“So, Becca,” Steve said to her over Chocolate-Chip pancakes. 

“Mmmm?” Becca asked, mouth stuffed.

“I woke up this morning to find your brother in my bed,”

Becca swallowed, and then began laughing like crazy. 

“He told me the whole story. Was I really snoring?”

“I took a recording of it. It was so bad,” Becca said, still giggling slightly. “You sounded like a wounded walrus,”

“A what?” Steve asked gleefully. He grinned, and tilted his head slightly. 

“I’m not even kidding. I have no idea how Bucky dealt with you in the 40’s,”

“Me either.” Steve said thoughtfully. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Becca stuffed more pancake into her mouth, and grabbed a few grapes. “What’s up?’

“Is he okay? I read the dreams you translated for me, and his nightmares seemed pretty bad.”

“I know. He needs a councilor.”

“I know just the person.”

“Great!” Becca’s expression turned serious “Did you read all the dreams?”

“What do you mean? They were all nightmares, I read them, but-” Steve stopped, and thought about the dream he thought he had imagined. 

Becca nodded at the look of realization on his face. “He’s pretty smitten with you,” she said, both eyes burning through him. 

“I-wait, what? No. He’s not-no.” 

“Yeah, he is. It’s possible for guys to like guys. You know that, right?”

“Wait. What?”

“Oh my god. Wow. You are so clueless. Seriously. Didn’t the Avenger’s educate you at all?”

“Um. No?”

“Do I really have to teach you-I do huh?”

“I….guess….so?” Steve was so confused. Bucky liked him? And it wasn’t a weird thing?

“Jesus. You will owe me. I mean, you won’t owe me, just give me some credit when you figure it all out. I’m sorry. I should get Natasha to help me. Is she here?” Becca looked at Steve, looking lost. “Hold on.” She pulled out her phone, and called Natasha. When she picked up, Becca let out a breath. “Tasha? Yeah, I need help. No, no everything’s fine, just come help me teach Steve what homosexuality is. Yeah. I know. You guys completely forgot that part. Okay. Bye”

She looked at Steve “She’s coming. Eat your pancakes,”

Steve nodded. Homosexuality? It sounded familiar, like something Tony would say during a meeting while pretending to cough. Steve ate his pancakes.


	7. Chapter 7

“Alright. So. This is a new thing, I know.” Natasha started. “In short, its completely normal for guys to like guys, girls to like girls, people to like both, people to like neither, and for people to be assigned a different gender at birth than that of who they really are.”

Becca and Natasha studied him, waiting for a reaction. “Of course, some people don’t think that it is ‘okay’ or thinks it like, sinful, or something, to be a homosexual. It’s not.” Becca finished. 

“Okay. I think I get it. Kinda.” Steve said slowly.

“You may want to do research, were not very good sources of information. We didn’t grow up with it or anything,” Natasha said kindly.

“You...didn’t?”

“Becca was born at the same time as you, and I was born in Russia, which is so anti-gay it hurts. So no. Which reminds me, Becca.”

“Yeah?”

“Do we need to give Bucky the same lesson?” Natasha asked curiously.

“Oh, trust me, Bucky knows.” Becca looked at Steve, who nodded. 

“I have to go wake up Clint,” Said Natasha

Becca and Steve sat in a comfortable silence until Bucky stumbled out of Steve’s room, looking fairly rested. 

Steve blushed a little, and focused on his pancakes when he saw that Bucky was lacking a shirt. Becca grinned, and grabbed the one she had brought for Bucky from under the table, throwing it at him.

Bucky caught it, and pulled it on as he walked to the table, helping himself to pancakes. “You get any more sleep, Becca?”

“Nope! I was still hyped up on sugar, and I figured you would wake Steve up eventually. I was already dressed when he came to get me.”

“Already dressed and jumping on the bed,” Steve said, pretending to be annoyed.

“I was not! I was, um, playing jump rope.”

“On the bed,” Steve confirmed. Becca rolled her eyes. “Sure,” she amended.

Bucky looked between Steve and Becca “Since when are you two best friends?”

“Since seven o’clock,” Said Becca, and she slapped Bucky’s hands he reached for some pancakes.

“What the heck?” he asked “I’m hungry!”

“Stark want’s to run some tests on you. And your arm and stuff.”

“What about you?” 

“I did that already,” Becca said, sticking her tongue out.

“So what are you gonna today?”

“I don’t know. I don’t feel like going anywhere, so I might just mess around in my room,”

Steve had an idea “Do you want my help decorating it?” He asked, and Becca nodded vigorously. “And then we can do Bucky’s room!”

“No, you can’t,” Bucky said, looking down at Becca, “I like it just the way it is,” 

But Becca was already up, and running down the hall. Steve smiled at Bucky, and clapped him on the shoulder. ”I’ll try to keep her from causing too much damage,” he said, smiling slightly. 

Bucky ducked his head and grinned. “Whatever, punk.”

“Jerk,” Steve called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall, following Becca. Bucky rolled his eyes, and started towards the lab.

 

“So, what exactly are you thinking?” Steve asked, looking around Becca’s bare room.

“I want to do a few tributes to the Avenger’s, S.H.I.E.L.D., a couple of TV shows I watch, and at the same time make it look kinda retro. I don’t think it’s possible, though.”

“So you want a kind of 40’s aspect to it?”

“Yeah. Kinda stupid but…”

“No, I’m seeing it. We can put up some pictures of the Stark Expo Bucky and I went to before he left, some old-timey pictures of S.H.I.E.L.D., and some black-and-white prints of the Avenger’s and your TV show. What show is it?”

“Um.” Becca said, looking a little shy. “You won’t know it, but, Supernatural?” 

“Hhhmm…don’t know that one, but what does it look like?”

Becca pulled out her computer and pulled up a few pictures, and Steve nodded. “I can work with that, lets try it.”

And so they set to work, and after a few hours Becca started breathing heavily, until she had to sit down.

“Hey you okay?” Steve asked, concerned.

Becca reached behind her ear, presumably to turn on the hologram, but nothing happened. Her eye widened with panic, and she opened her mouth “Get Bucky!” she said, still breathing hard. Steve only nodded, and rushed downstairs to get her brother.

“Stark, stop testing, something’s wrong with Becca,” he said, barging into the lab, and seeing Sam. “What are you doing here? Nevermind. Becca can’t breathe, and how her hologram isn’t working!”

Bucky started pulling off cords and bit and pieces of machinery, already rushing out of the lab, and upstairs, with Sam and Steve following.

Once they got there, Becca was on the ground, looking panicked, with Bucky beside her, and Sam kneeling down. “Breath deeply through your nose, alright?” She nodded, and soon her breathing slowed. Steve relaxed, but then she started tensing up, and curling up in pain. Bucky held her hand, looking grim. The heavy, closed breathing started again.

“We need to get her to a hospital,” Sam said, “Could she be having an allergic reaction?” 

“No,” Bucky said, and he and Sam lifted her up “I’ll explain on the way,”

As the walked her onto the jet, Steve went from room to room announcing that they were taking Becca to a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital. Tony and Bruce elected to stay behind with Pietro and Wanda, while Clint and Natasha followed. Natasha flew the jet while Sam held an oxygen mask over Becca’s face, and Bucky explained what he thought was happening. 

“HYDRA set up a failsafe in her when the did one of the surgeries, to make sure she wouldn’t try to get away from them. They probably contacted her before letting it make its way through her system.” He was standing up, pacing a little around the ship, but he stopped when Becca started sitting up. Sam tried to push her back down but she brushed him off

“The attacks over now. It’ll come once in a while, speeding up the time in between. Each attack will target something else. The first one targeted my hologram, simple, not very noticeable. Then it gets bad. I’m pretty sure I just lost my collar bone.”

Everybody sat there for a second “...What?” Sam finally asked.

“They made one of my collar bones flexible so that I wouldn’t break it anymore. Now it’s kinda just dead weight.” 

“Nice. When do you think the next attack will come?”

“Don’t know. But I do need to get to the hospital, and soon, before the next one.”

She looked at Sam. “You must be Sam.” 

“Yeah. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m sorry,” Becca said, and looked out the window of the jet, leaving Sam looking confused. 

Within a half hour of her calming down and breathing correctly, she started breathing heavily and convulsing slightly this time, moaning in pain. Eventually Sam put her on some light pain meds, and she was a little woozy when they placed her on a stretcher, and headed into the hospital.

As soon as they got inside, the attack stopped and she pulled the mask off again. Steve explained what was happening and pretty soon a series of nurses and doctors came to tow her away including-

“Josh?” Becca said, still a little woozy. Bucky was immediately on the defense when he saw the kid. He had imagined some weird skater punk, with spiky hair and emo eyeliner, but this kid was wearing no makeup, a set of scrubs, and had a clean haircut.

Natasha smiled broadly when she saw him, and was even happier when she learned that he worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.. Once they had reached her room, Becca and Josh were talking as the rest of the people began preparing for her next episode. Josh hadn’t looked at Becca’s arm or eye or anything else twice, he kept smiling and talking to her, laughing at her jokes. She seemed really comfortable, but Bucky knew that once she came down, she would panic about Josh seeing her ‘cyborg self’. 

Pretty soon its started again, the constricted breathing and convulsions and everything else. Josh held Becca’s hand as everybody tried to keep her comfortable, and the doctors took a few X-rays. 

They soon reported that her fake lung had failed, and that they were going to sedate her and put a tube in.

As Becca rested, Josh stayed to talk to Natasha and Clint. “Are they together?” He finally asked, looking over and Bucky sitting next to Becca’s bed, holding her real hand, and stroking her purple hair. 

“Bucky is Becca’s brother,” Natasha said, slowly

“What?” Josh said “No, Bucky and Captain Rogers,”

Clint started laughing, before Natasha hit him “No, but they should be!”

Josh was about to say something when his watch beeped. “Excuse me,” He walked over to Steve and Bucky, and motioned towards one of the many tubed in Becca’s body. He started fiddling with it, and pressed a button. After a second somebody else came in and handed him a new IV bag. 

“So, I think we should call in somebody who specifies in technology, and somebody else who can deal with everything else. Like, better.” 

Steve nodded “We can call Tony to work on her arm and stuff.” He recommended.

“Call FitzSimmons!” Natasha yelled over. 

Josh snapped his fingers “Good idea!” and he walked out.

The next day, Bruce and Tony showed up, and Tony offered to work with two new people on the team, Fitz and Jemma, who asked that everyone leave the room while they worked. Clint and Natasha went to go get coffee, while Bruce and Tony argued about how they were going to fix Becca’s arm. Josh went to go take care of his other patients, so Steve sat with Bucky, trying to keep him occupied. 

As they talked, Bucky started to drift off, his head leaning on Steve’s shoulder. Steve grinned, and snuggled in closer, falling asleep himself.

Later, when Steve woke up, Bucky was almost in his lap. They had curled up together, both taking up each other’s chairs in the empty hallway. Steve nuzzled his nose into Bucky’s hair, and, thinking Bucky was asleep, whispered “I love you,” into his ear.

But then Bucky rustled, and Steve panicked a little, before Bucky turned his head up, and looked at him with big brown eyes. “Really?” He asked.

Steve swallowed. “Yeah,” 

And then Bucky Barnes, the ruthless Winter Soldier, kissed Captain America.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, I was at camp. I'm going to mark it as finished but may add an epilogue later.


End file.
